8 



quired to be on the alert to prevent fires, and empowered to 

 summon help to extinguish or surround them. The time has 

 arrived and seems favorable for this radical change. And no 

 state is more in need of it or will be more benefited by it than 

 Pennsylvania. With a large acreage of land unfitted by nature 

 for any purpose but forestry, and admirably placed for confer- 

 ring continuously all those benefits which flow from the preser- 

 vation of a liberal percentage of land in forests, its greatest lack 

 is adequate protection from fire and trespass. This is both a 

 disgrace to our civilization and an injury to our prosperity. The 

 remedy lies with the people themselves. They should not be 

 slow to apply it. 



EXPERIENCE WITH EVERGREENS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 



BY GEORGE C. BUTZ. 



Of the great variety of evergreen trees grown for sale in the 

 larger nurseries, only a very few species are selected for general 

 planting, and the amount of such planting of Conif erse seems to 

 diminish in the cities of Pennsylvania; not, however, from a lack 

 of appreciation of the beauty which such trees possess, but be- 

 cause of the conditions which prove so adverse to their health 

 and growth. The gases of closely built cities cause a loose and 

 stunted growth, which is more marked on evergreens than on de- 

 ciduous trees, and very soon a heavy coat of soot and dust covers 

 the trees and forever hides the varied beauty of color in bark and 

 foliage. The ornamental features of an evergreen tree are : the 

 perfect symmetry of form maintained throughout life; the grace- 

 ful habit of the branches and branchlets; the color, form and 

 persistency of the foliage, and in some cases the fruit. If these 

 features are destroyed or concealed the tree or shrub, instead of 

 being an ornament, would be an object fit only for the flames. 



With the rapid improvement in the taste displayed in the or- 

 namentation of home grounds, parks and cemeteries, the demand 

 for the rarer varieties of evergreens will be proportionately in- 

 creased. Such homes and public grounds are more commonly 

 located at some distance from manufacturing establishments, 

 and every element of beauty in tree or flower can be preserved. 



Much more evidence than we now possess is needed to prove 



